Brandeis Magazine

Dana Cohen owns Medford Optical, which has a branch in Medford, Massachusetts, and another inside Boston Children’s Hospital in Waltham. He plays trombone in the Cape Ann Big Band and in Garfish, a classic-rock group. He and wife Ginny live in Gloucester. Daughter Laura, a Baltimore resident, recently delivered their first grandson, Leo Ray. Daughter Rachel lives in Reading, Massachusetts, and has two daughters, Silvana and Olivia. Lewis Kachur wrote an essay in the exhibition catalog for “The Nature of Arp,” a major retrospective of dadaism founder Jean Arp at the Nasher Sculpture Center, in Dallas. This spring, the exhibition travels to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, in Venice. With sadness, Alan Mittleman reports the death of his wife, Patti, in November. They had been married for 37 years. On a happier note, their first grandchild, Adrian Max, was born to their son and daughter-in-law, Joel and Amy Mittleman Levin, in September. Birat Simha has retired after a 30-year career at the United Nations, including postings in six different countries in Asia and Africa, and at the NYC headquarters. Today, he promotes mental health in his home country, Nepal, and enjoys being a grandfather to two toddlers, both girls.